Communication is a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human, and the question of what it means to be human has guided some of the greatest minds in history; it is thus a question that seems worthy of guiding my own aspirations and actions, too. Genuine communication in just about every form has been under myriad attacks from different elements (or "participants") of modernity. I would argue that social media and the education system are two institutions that have done a significant amount of such damage in my lifetime.
But writing in particular is more than just some medium of communication, some synapse of degradation via potent profiteering. There is a strong case to be made that writing was a major milestone on the path toward civilization, the bridge from pre-history to history. I guarantee that you, the reader, have written at least something today. Am I right?
The printing press revolutionized the accessibility of ideas and was the first step toward the democratization of knowledge, which I see as one of (if not the) highest goals of the modern world and one of the ideals I see myself as a defender of. Well, friends, I'm sorry to tell you that we have a new printing press, and this one is much more ominous, much more detrimental. Like anything else built on the pretense of "convenience," an ill-guided notion that has been destroyed (to varying extents) by basically every single major 20th century philosopher, this new printing press, regardless of what it might be used for at El Dorado, is instead used in application to abstract away every last modicum of this "what it means to be human."
The issue of convenience is one I will touch upon in a different piece in the future, so I only mention the parallels here between social media and the education system, since I gave those examples earlier. Social media is built around convenience. Much more convenient to set your definition of "friendship" (in the "real" world, not just the status of being "friends" or mutual "followers" on your platform of choice) as mutual exchange of electronic sycophancy achieved through a shallow thumbs up to contrived and meaningless postings. Ask yourself: is that genuinely what it means to be a friend of someone? If your answer is yes, I truly pity you, for the connections that one might achieve in the world if only one allows oneself to move past this reduction are magical. As for the education system, it is built on convenience to the point that actual learning and applicable fostering of knowledge and love for philosophy (in the literal sense of the word, not the typical one) are mere afterthoughts, if even that. I refer you to Curiosity Integrated for a more lengthy discussion of this.
Writing forms not only a means of codifying language and ensuring it persists. Writing is a way that we formalize and refine our thought. In that sense, I find writing in the abstract a sacred practice. Yet for me this sacred practice takes on a special meaning, as well. I have Aphantasia; I cannot visualize images in my head. I believe that this is the reason that writing (literature and poetry, yes, but also writing in absolutely all forms; maybe, more broadly, "language") and music resonate so strongly with me. They are amplified and make up for an implicit deficit in the way that my mind works, and I wouldn't change that for the world. Writing is inherently personal to me in a way that it is perhaps not personal for everyone.
So here is my final argument. If you feel the need, in the name of your "convenience," to abstract away the opportunity to refine your thoughts and craft them into something beautiful, something which can convey great depth and brilliance and emotion to your fellow humans, then I pity you. You have thrown away a remarkable opportunity, abstained from partaking in an act that is, in fact, quite fun. (Writing is one of the most fun activities I know of!) But you have also, in my eyes, committed an injustice. You have committed an act of disrespect against humanity by forsaking and offloading one of the qualities that uniquely identifies and defines us.That is your choice; do not think it will go unnoticed. It's usually very obvious to tell, because the current LLMs have personalities of their own (these are called "System Instructions") and, when trying to emulate the distinctly human form of reasoning and contemplating, they get pedantic, and fast. You face my eternal judgement (and I bet I'm not the only one) if you do this. Either of these grounds would be enough for me to promise you, my dear reader, that I will never abstract the process of writing away in such a manner. Of this you may rest assured.